On our first week in southern California, we had a plan to spend three nights in San Diego. We borrowed my sister's car for this period, and slowly drove south from Los Angeles. We decided to stop along the way in Mission San Juan Capistrano, which is about halfway from Los Angeles and San Diego. This is a very old structure, founded in 1776 by Spanish Catholic missionaries.
A mission is essentially a faraway outpost. Back then, people thought that it was a noble idea to go far and wide to some foreign country and convert people into Christianity, something that still happens nowadays unfortunately. So a mission is where these religious representatives would live, very far from their usual habitat. And sometimes, it is a rock and a hard place, at the same time.
The mission in San Juan Capistrano is well restored - restoration efforts have been underway since 1910. It also changed hands a few times. At some point back when this area was still part of Mexico, it was secularised. And then later on the United States government returned it to the Catholic Church. Several noteworthy people occupied it in various times, from priests, to pirates, to ranchers.
There is a huge outdoor area, with several courtyards and gardens. When we arrived, we took advantage of the audioguide, which led us through the various interior and exterior areas of the mission. It's not a very big place, but nevertheless, there were plenty of things to check out.
The interior areas show the living quarters, as well as the kitchen. As I mentioned earlier, it's not an easy way of life here. Modern creature comforts are not available. Hence if one were a missionary in 1776, one would need a lot of faith to venture far away from Spain and live in austere circumstances in the New World, just to propagate a particular set of beliefs.
Since this is a religious institution, there are churches in the premises. There is the small Father Serra's Church, with a very intimate Baroque setting. Unfortunately, the Great Stone Church has been damaged severely by an earthquake, and therefore only its shell remains nowadays.
It was a very interesting pit stop for us, nevertheless, and we enjoyed the couple of hours we were there. After our visit, we had some lunch, and continued the drive to San Diego.
